The bloody rampage by a knife-wielding madman in Sydney, Australia over the weekend underscores the deadly danger of public disarmament in a nation whose restrictive gun control strategies are often envied by U.S. gun control advocates, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms said.
A second mass stabbing at a church in western Sydney left four people injured, including a church bishop. The Monday attack occurred while the church service was live streaming. Police have taken that suspect into custody.
Six people were killed at a shopping mall Saturday before the killer, identified as Joel Cauchi of Queensland, was fatally shot by a police officer. CCRKBA Chairman Alan Gottlieb noted the irony of the scenario, where a man committing mayhem with a knife had to be stopped by a man armed with a gun.
“American gun prohibitionists frequently whine about the alleged ‘insanity’ represented by millions of private citizens who are legally armed in public,” Gottlieb observed. “True insanity is disarming the public, leaving them defenseless against madmen who attack without warning, and literally face no resistance from their victims.
“By contrast, Australia banned a wide array of firearms following the 1996 massacre in Port Arthur,” he recalled, “and carrying firearms in public, openly or concealed, is prohibited. One might suppose that after the events of this weekend, Australia will try to ban knives.
“We know from various research that armed private citizens in America use firearms in self-defense upwards of two million times a year by most estimates, often without firing a shot,” Gottlieb continued. “We are blessed in this country to have a Second Amendment in our Bill of Rights, and right-to-bear arms provisions in nearly all state constitutions. This is why CCRKBA continues to vigorously defend that right from attack by those who would erase it.”
“Those who would disarm law-abiding U.S. citizens are the real enemies of public safety,” Gottlieb said. “Their alternate universe is a dangerous fantasy which places innocent lives at risk just so they can imagine they have accomplished something. They should try explaining this to the Australian families who are now without their loved ones because they couldn’t fight back.”
With more than 650,000 members and supporters nationwide, the Citizens Committee for the Right to Keep and Bear Arms (www.ccrkba.org) is one of the nation’s premier gun rights organizations. As a non-profit organization, the Citizens Committee is dedicated to preserving firearms freedoms through active lobbying of elected officials and facilitating grass-roots organization of gun rights activists in local communities throughout the United States.
